Tribe Sweep Twins, Secure AL Wild Card

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2013 Cleveland Indians will be playing baseball in October. Post-season baseball. Playoffs.

Just let that sink in for a bit. Savour it.

For the first time since 2007, Cleveland will host an MLB Playoff game. At the beginning of the season, all Tribe fans wanted was meaningful baseball games in September. For me personally, I just wanted us to be relevant, somewhere within the region of "relevant" and "respectable" by the end of the season. The dream was post-season baseball for me, and I didn't really think they'd actually achieve it, not after 2012, not after all the new acquisitions would naturally need time to gel. Well the Indians only went and did it, surpassing all expectations. They did indeed play meaningful baseball in September. And now they will play in October too. Pinch me.

So that's it folks, the regular season is done and dusted. The Indians finished with a 92-70 record, quite astounding considering how bleak things looked at times this year. 10 straight wins to end the year. 21-6 in the month of September. I don't care what they say about the "soft schedule," you play the team in front of you. We did and we won. That's all there is to it.

In the end it all came down to the final day, game 162. Win and they're in. The Indians obliged. Thanks to an absolutely dominant outing from Ubaldo Jimenez and some important hitting from key players like Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana, the Tribe wrapped up the top spot in the AL Wild Card with relative ease, beating the Twins 5-1 on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep of Minnesota. It was Cleveland's seventh four-game sweep of the year, the most in major league history since the 1943 Cardinals. That's just amazing.

Something else amazing: Ubaldo's 13 strikeouts, which matched his career high. It has been a magnificent few months for the Dominican right-hander and he pitched a real gem in the Sunday sunshine. After getting into a bit of trouble in the 7th inning, Jimenez was relieved by Marc Rzepczynski and then Justin Masterson to finish out the game. It was somewhat fitting to see Masterson pitch the final couple of innings after such a brilliant season by the All Star. The final out was a thing of beauty as well: Masterson induced a sharp groundball that looked as if it had eyes for right field, but fellow All Star Jason Kipnis made a gorgeous web-gem-worthy dive to his left to snag the ball. Kipnis got to his feet in light-speed to throw the ball to Masterson covering first base for the final out. Cue delirious celebrations on the field, in the homes of Cleveland fans, and little old me here in UK, going mental sat on the floor in front of my laptop.

Let's take a look at some talking points from this series then:

Perez Problems Solved? Sort Of

With just days left of the regular season, Chris Perez was finally relieved of his closing duties on Friday 27th September. And I'm surprised it took so long to be honest. After nearly costing the Indians another game in Thursday night's narrow 6-5 win, Perez apparently went to Francona and said he didn't want to cost the team any valuable wins this late in the year. The skipper agreed and demoted Perez from the closer role, finishing out the season with a closer-by-committee, including guys like Cody Allen, Joe Smith, and new member of the bullpen Justin Masterson.

It's safe to say Perez has had a terrible 2013. In 54 games he finished with a 5-3 record, a bloated 4.33 ERA with 25 saves, and 5 blown saves. In 54 innings he gave up 56 hits, 11 home runs, and 21 walks. Simply put, it was not good enough for a closer on a team trying to compete for a place in the post-season. There was a moment a couple of months ago where it felt like Perez was back on track to be being the closer he once was. It looked as if he was improving. Then he imploded once more. It wasn't to be.

The question now is, what role will the big right-hander play in the post-season? Will he feature at all? I have to admit, I think it would be wise just to shut him down entirely now. His confidence is completely shot and his future with the Tribe is in serious doubt.

How many fans would shed a tear if Perez were traded in the off-season? I certainly wouldn't and I'm sure the majority of Indians fans feel the same way. Our patience with Perez has always been relatively thin but it has never been thinner than now. The manner of his 9th inning displays are always nail-biting, and never in a good way. Painful to watch is the correct term I believe. Personally, I think it's time both sides agree to call time and move in different directions. A fresh start could be exactly what Perez needs to get his mojo back. I for one think his days closing in Cleveland are over.

King Kazmir

Take a bow Mr Scott Edward Kazmir. The veteran left-hander put in a superb performance during Saturday afternoon's 5-1 win to edge the Indians another step closer in their bid to secure their Wild Card spot. Kazmir pitched 6 solid innings before departing, giving up 6 hits, 1 run, walking 2, and striking out an incredible 11 batters. He was making the Twins miss consistently, keeping them off balance all afternoon. I was particularly impressed with his breaking ball, a beauty of a pitch when he got it right. Kazmir finished the 2013 season with 162 strikeouts in 158 innings. That's more than Matt Cain, David Price, Zack Greinke, Hiroki Kuroda and Matt Moore. For the small price the Tribe paid for Kazmir, I think they more than got their money's worth. Especially for a dude who had been out of the majors since 2011.

In fact, after a difficult August in which he was plagued by arm fatigue, Kazmir rebounded in style during September. Over 5 starts he posted a 2.57 ERA this past month with 43 strikeouts in 28 innings, an incredible amount. Talk about a strong finish to the season. I've heard Kazmir is willing to discuss returning to Cleveland for 2014 and I have absolutely no problems with that. I think if he can remain healthy then he has the potential to build off this season and come back even stronger next year. I feel he deserves another year with the Tribe at the very least.

Sir Swisher

It's been easy to see the effect Nick Swisher has had on the Indians this year. The guy is such a character, so full of enthusiasm, you'd have to be blind not to see how beneficial his positive attitude has been to this club. From the moment he signed in December 2012 to the final out of Sunday's game, the smile on his face has rarely dropped, even as he struggled at times on the field.

It hasn't exactly been a career year for Nick in his debut season in Cleveland. I wouldn't have blamed him if his enthusiasm faltered a bit as his performance suffered. But give credit where it is due, the man did not give up.

Swisher had a fantastic month of September and was arguably the cornerstone of the Tribe's amazing playoff push these past four weeks. Let's look at some numbers: In the 26 games he played in September, Swisher batted .263, had a .353 OBP, and a .515 slugging percentage. He recorded 26 hits, 4 of them doubles, and hit 7 home runs for 17 RBI, to go along with 15 walks. Hell, he even threw in a stolen base for good measure, his only one this year.

He finished the year with 22 homers (he hasn't hit less than that since his rookie season in 2005) so considering that 7 of them came within these past 26 games, that's a pretty good hot streak right there. Swisher's 2-run bomb in the 1st inning of Sunday's game settled any early nerves for the Tribe and put them on track for the Wild Card-clinching win. It was only right that Swisher, the face of this franchise, should be the one to put a smile on the fans' faces, one big enough to match his own. Thanks Nick.

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So where does this all leave us? Tampa Bay and Texas both won their final games to finish with matching records of 91-71. That means they face off tonight in a 163rd game to decide who will play the Indians in Wednesday's Wild Card game at Progressive Field. I will of course be staying up late for Wednesday night's game and I cannot wait for it. It'll be my first Playoff game as an Indians fan since I started supporting the team late in 2007. I pretty much missed out on all the excitement six years ago. I was still a new fan and still learning the game, and thus didn't fully appreciate how special it was. Now I know, now I appreciate it, and I really hope the Indians can keep us happy for many more days to come in October.

Now if any of you kind souls feel like sending one of those sweet Indians Playoffs t-shirts to me in England, I would really appreciate it!

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Miss Out On Mets Sweep

The Indians took two out of three from this series against the visiting New York Mets and should really have completed the sweep. Behind a dominant Scott Kazmir the Tribe easily won Friday's opener 8-1, then took game two convincingly, winning 9-4 on Saturday. Sunday's contest was a closely fought battle and was tied 1-1 until Chris Perez blew the game in the 9th inning, and the Mets emerged victorious 2-1 to salvage some pride.

Right, I have next to no time this morning to wrap up this series so unfortunately you guys are going to get my series recap in bullet points. Here we go:

• Scott Kazmir. So much for that arm fatigue huh? He looked amazing on Friday, practically untouchable. Kaz pitched 6 strong innings, scattering 4 hits, didn't allow a run and didn't walk a single batter. To top it all off he had 12 strikeouts. 12! Scott was dialled in and it was easily the best game he's pitched this year, and probably one of his best games ever. 
• Nick Swisher. Dude picked a good weekend to get hot. Swisher had 5 hits in the series, including 2 home runs for a total of 6 RBI. His grand slam in the 8th inning of Friday's game was a thing of beauty, he absolutely launched that ball into the stands. I'm really hoping this was a sign of things to come from Swisher in September. Lately he's been playing like the player we all hoped he would be when we signed him. Keep it up Swish, and take home the Player of the Series award whilst you're at it.
• Congratulations must go to Jason Giambi, who recorded the 2,000th hit of his major league career late in Sunday's game. He blooped one into left field to reach the milestone and it's quite an achievement. Well done big guy! I was really happy to see him get it done, in what will almost certainly be his last season as a professional. He was replaced by pinch-runner Mike Aviles, who then proceeded to ruin the occasion by getting caught trying to steal second base, a totally unnecessary and frustrating move that late in the game.
• Drew Stubbs had a pretty awful weekend and continues to be the black hole in this lineup. He had 7 strikeouts over the course of this Mets series, including 4 in Sunday's game (the ol' Golden Sombrero). There are times he looks completely hopeless at the plate, like he is already consigned to defeat. I love what Stubbs brings to right field as a defender, he covers a lot of ground out there, but he has been a huge disappointment with his bat in 2013. This Mets series was yet another example.
• Speaking of disappointments, nothing can go right for Asdrubal Cabrera right now. Don't get me wrong, it's all his fault. Apart from smashing a welcome 3-run homer during Saturday night's win, Cabrera had an awful series. He got the only RBI of the game on Sunday, but that was only because he was hit by a pitch in his calf with the bases loaded. He had so many chances to bring runners home during this series and failed nearly every time. His worst moment was during the 8th inning rally on Sunday, when with 1 out and the bases loaded, he swung twice at a pitcher with known location problems, connecting the second time to result in an inning-ending double play. It was a complete joke and a perfect moment to sum up what an awful 2013 Cabrera has had.

Anyway that'll do it for me this morning, I gotta run. The Indians face the Royals tonight to start a three game series. The resurrected Ubaldo Jimenez (10-9, 3.79 ERA) takes the mound for the hometown team and will face KC's Ervin Santana (8-8, 3.33 ERA), who I always think looks like Snoop from The Wire.

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Woes Continue In Oakland

The Indians wrapped up their series in Oakland yesterday in disappointing fashion, unable to win the rubber game and thus losing the series overall. Scott Kazmir, he of the "dead arm", was unable to make the most of his extended rest and was on the hook for the loss, giving up 10 hits for 5 runs in 5 innings in the Tribe's 7-3 loss to the A's. Cleveland haven't had the best run of late; they're 7-10 in August but somehow still find themselves in the wild card race, 4.5 games back of Tampa Bay. Hope remains.

Let's take a look at some talking points from the series:

Ubaldo Still A Mystery 

If you were told Ubaldo Jimenez would flirt with a no-hitter in 2013, you'd probably laugh in that person's face. But believe it or not he did, shutting out the A's for 5 innings on Saturday night during the Indians' 7-1 victory. It was quite a remarkable outing for Jimenez and, like the majority of his starts, wasn't everything it seemed at first glance. Yes, Ubaldo did keep Oakland from getting a hit through 5 innings, but he also walked 5 guys, so he hardly kept the A's off the bases. It came back to bite Ubaldo in the end, as his pitch count escalated (like usual) and he was pulled after just 5 and 2/3 innings.

But there was a lot to love about Ubaldo's recent outing. The right-hander struck out 8 batters, his highest strikeout total in a game since June 29th. He also got the invaluable run support that has been sorely lacking for our pitchers at times this month. Before Ubaldo even took the mound he had been gifted a 2-0 lead; that's got to be comforting from a mental aspect and I expect it helped Jimenez settle in a bit better.

With Saturday's win in the books, Ubaldo's season stats look like this: He's sitting on a respectable 4.00 ERA with 123 strikeouts in 128.1 innings, good enough for a 8.63 K/9 ratio. He has a 9-7 win/loss record, matching the 9 victories he earned last season, so he stands a good chance to beat that and achieve double-digit wins as an Indian for the first time (he had 10 wins in 2011 but 6 of them were in Colorado).

So all in all, it hasn't been the dreadful season from Jimenez many of us expected. He hasn't been great for sure, and he's only been good a handful of times, but he's been a massive improvement from 2012 Ubaldo. With just under a month and a half left of the season, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Jimenez can produce more outings like those of the Saturday night variety. Now if only he could make it through 6 full innings...

Player Of The Series

There were some good contributions throughout this series: Justin Masterson pitched a solid game on Friday night, lasting 7 and 2/3 innings, giving up 3 runs and keeping the Tribe in the game. Unfortunately the Indians couldn't support the big man and he ended up with the loss but it was a decent performance from Masterson nonetheless. Nick Swisher has been pretty good at the plate lately and his form continued in his old stomping ground in Oakland: Swish had 5 hits in the series for 3 RBI, including a home run on Saturday, his 13th of the year. But the Player of the Series for me was Jason Kipnis, who continued to pace the offense like he has all season. Kipnis had 4 hits, 3 RBI, and stole his 22nd base of the year in the series. He now sits with a .294 average, a .374 OBP, 15 home runs and 72 RBI for the season, pretty much leading every offensive category on the team. Well done Mr Kipnis, keep it up.

So the Indians remain out west for a bit longer, travelling to Anaheim today to take on the Angels in a three game series. Rookie pitcher Danny Salazar (1-1, 4.08 ERA) will toe the mound for us, facing off against Jered Weaver (7-6, 3.49 ERA). Salazar made an impressive start to his career in the majors but faltered a bit in his last start against the Twins. He'll be looking to rebound in style against the Angels tonight, and can hopefully put the Indians back on track.

*EDIT* Salazar has been scratched from tonight's start, and Zach McAllister is set to pitch instead. Something to do with the Indians keeping an eye on his innings limit.

Thanks for reading.

Losing Streak Over, But Series Lost To LA

Okay then. After the dreadful Detroit series last week I really wanted the Tribe to come out all guns blazing against Anaheim. It didn't really work out like that unfortunately. In fact, it got so bad that at one stage the Indians' losing streak had grown to 6 games. Finally the team saved some dignity and won yesterday's final game of the series, rallying from behind to beat the Angels 6-5. It's been a pretty miserable week for the Tribe, and with the Browns back in town and having a successful first pre-season game, the Indians are going to have to turn on the form to keep the fans flocking to the park (not that they really were before, but that's a whole other conversation). The team are going to need all the help they can get in the push for October baseball.

I don't have too much time this morning, plus I don't have a great deal to say either as I got the chance to watch exactly zero minutes of Tribe baseball over the weekend. The MLB.com highlights just do not do the game justice at all, so I'm not going to go into a big re-cap today based on the highlights I saw. Instead, here are some quick-fire points I'd like to make about the series:

• Nick Swisher. The guy had a pretty consistent series overall and his 2 run homer really got us back into yesterday's game. Hopefully he can start to produce like this a lot more often as we go forward.
• The errors. Guys, come on, sort it out! Still the defensive errors are costing the Indians dearly. Did you all see that abysmal throw attempt to 1st base by Ubaldo on Saturday? He never stood a chance.
• Speaking of Ubaldo, he actually had the best outing by our starting pitchers over the series. Kazmir got shelled in Friday's start for 5 runs in just the 1st inning, creating a hole the Indians could not dig out of. Masterson had a really off day yesterday, surrendering 4 runs in the first 2 innings and letting Angels get on base at will. Thankfully the team did rally back that time. But Ubaldo's solid if unspectacular 6 and a 1/3 innings of work on Saturday turned out to be the best performance out of all three starters, despite Jimenez losing that game. He kept the Tribe in the game and that's all you can ask from him.
• Credit must go to Carlos Carrasco. Recalled from Columbus for this series against Anaheim, he was called into action earlier than I'm sure he thought he would be. After Kazmir was pulled after 3 innings on Friday, Matt Albers managed to pitch an inning in relief before turning the ball over to Carrasco. The 26 year-old right-hander pitched 5 shutout innings to keep Tribe hopes alive but the offense never got the key hit to pull close to the Angels. It was a very positive outing for Carrasco, who has had a very poor year every time he's pitched in Cleveland (he's often been fantastic down in Columbus though). Carrasco can have my Player Of The Series award for his troubles too. 
• As another reward for Carrasco's efforts on Friday, Francona announced he will be the starter on Wednesday against the Twins. It gives Scott Kazmir a well needed rest, who apparently is suffering from fatigue, a dead arm kinda thing. Fair enough, Kaz hasn't thrown this many innings in a season in years so it's better to be safe and not wear him down.

That'll be it for today. Cleveland travel to Minnesota now for a three game series against the Twins. The Tribe have to use yesterday's win as a springboard to break out of this slump they've been in. It's got so bad lately that I'm no longer paying much attention to what the Tigers are doing. No, I'm more worried about the bloody Royals, who sit just a 0.5 game behind us now. Kansas City have been on a tear lately and the Indians must start winning again before we end up stuck in third in the division, let alone how many games behind in the wild card. 

Thanks for reading.

Sloppy In Seattle: Tribe Lose Series

Apologies for not writing a Twins series report last week, but my All Star break was more lengthy than the MLB players was. I watched most of the Masterson game, the sole victory in that series, but I honestly didn't pay enough attention to the rest of the series enough to write a credible re-cap.

Alas, I am here now for the Seattle series that wrapped up yesterday, with an impressive 10-1 win for the Indians. Unfortunately the Indians lost the first two games, both by narrow margins. Despite a solid effort by Ubaldo Jimenez and the bullpen, the Tribe dropped the first game on Monday 2-1, the offense failing to get that important hit to nudge them into the lead. Zach McAllister made his long awaited return from the DL to start Tuesday's game but signs of rust were obvious, as he battled through 5 innings, surrendering 8 hits and 4 runs, 3 of them earned. Still, the Indians were in the game but again couldn't get those vital runs to turn things around, eventually losing 4-3, the second straight loss by a single-run deficit. Thankfully Cleveland turned it around for the final game on Wednesday, gifting Scott Kazmir plenty of run support to go along with his stellar 8 innings, coming out on top 10-1.

Let's take a look at some of the talking points in this series:

Errors, Errors, Errors

The Indians have committed 9 errors since the All Star break. That's 9 errors over the course of 6 games, 5 of those mistakes occurring in Seattle. That is embarrassing by major league standards and the Cleveland defense need to seriously sort this out before it becomes a situation. I know it's a small sample size but if they don't tighten up out there, this could become something to really worry about. Let's get this straight though: people make mistakes, even highly paid professional baseball players. No one is perfect and errors are part of the game. But 9 in 6 games? 4 by Lonnie Chisenhall alone? It's unacceptable and the players know that. But judging by some of the venomous posts I've seen on Twitter over the last few days, the Tribe faithful only have so much patience for sub-par play.

But the criticism can go too far sometimes. After Asdrubal Cabrera threw away a potential double-play in the second inning on Wednesday, the ball flying past Jason Kipnis stationed on second base, the Mariner's Jason Bay managed to round third base and score Seattle's only run of the game. The reaction from some of the fans on Twitter was amazing. You'd have thought Asdrubal had removed his Cleveland cap and took a dump in it judging by some of the intense hatred spewed his way. But no one cared to comment on the outstanding play he made earlier that inning, nor the routine play he fielded perfectly directly after his error. Nope, it was all "trade Cabrera now" and "bench that fool". He was ridiculed again later in the game for a lack of hustle as well.

I think it's time we need to start giving some of our players a bit of a break. Yes sometimes they warrant criticism and I understand fans wanting to vent their frustrations, we've all been there and done it, but the levels of abuse can reach ridiculous heights at times, often when its not at all necessary (Twitter can be the absolute worst place for this). Cabrera had a fantastic game by all accounts, going 2-for-4 at the plate, a double and a mammoth solo home run, for 3 RBI and a walk as well. Aside from his error, he made every play in the field perfectly, showing us he's still one of the premier shortstops in the American League. The Indians are having a pretty good season guys. So we need to support these players, not condemn them instantly. That's what being a fan is all about right?

All Quiet At The Trade Deadline

Since my post about potential targets the Tribe could explore before the trade deadline, there's been a bit of movement around the league, so I thought I'd update the situation where the Indians are involved. More specifically, what's happened to my trade targets since I last discussed them.

Matt Garza, possibly the player I would have like to have seen the most come to Cleveland (even if would end up being for just a couple of months), has been shipped to the Rangers recently, for a good crop of prospects the Cubs will be delighted with. Despite Garza having been a realistic option for the Indians to trade for, I don't really think we stood much of a chance at getting him in the end. He was easily the top pitcher available for trade this month and it was much more likely a contender like Texas would persuade Garza and the Cubs to join them rather than us. So it proved.

The same can be said for Ricky Nolasco, who was traded to the Dodgers shortly after my original post. I predicted as much and never really expected us to get Nolasco. I originally mentioned him on my list of targets but he was the lowest guy on my list, I only really had him on there because I preferred him to Yovani Gallardo from Milwaukee. Dear Indians front office, please pay attention to history and avoid trading for declining National League pitchers with inflated ERAs and decreasing velocity: i.e. do not trade for Gallardo, we don't need another Ubaldo situation.

However hope still remains in the form of Bud Norris. He's still pitching well in Houston, with a bevy of suitors sending scouts to each of his starts over the last month or so. If we couldn't get Garza, Norris was the next player I would have liked the Indians to acquire, plus he would have been under club control a lot longer than Garza. In fact over the last week or so I have actually been siding more towards Norris over Garza, pretty much because Norris would remain in Cleveland longer. So the opportunity to trade for Norris is still a possibility for the Tribe but as the days go by I get the feeling it won't be happening. It's been very quiet over the last few weeks where Cleveland is concerned in the trade deadline rush. Not many rumours of substance at all that mention the Indians. The race for Norris is heating up, but the only names I see mentioned with any consistency are the Orioles and Giants, and maybe the Red Sox occasionally. The word on the street is that Houston are looking for some premier prospects in return for their "ace" pitcher, which I expect most clubs are reluctant to part with. Norris is good, he's a very solid pitcher, but on most clubs he's a number 2/3 guy at best. So Houston's high asking price seems to be the main obstacle preventing Norris's departure for new pastures. As much as I'd like it, I don't expect Cleveland to be one of them.

The question now is, will the Indians make any move/s at all? There's just under a week left and so far it doesn't appear that they will. It looks like the club are satisfied with the current state of the starting rotation and any moves regarding the lineup only seem to involve the Indians as sellers rather than buyers (the Cabrera to St Louis trade is the only possibility even mentioned as far as lineup changes go). If the Tribe make any trades before August 1st I expect it'll be something minor, a move to bolster the bullpen probably, the glaring weakness this season that could benefit from immediate help. Watch this space...

Player Of The Series

There's really only one man who whole-heartedly deserves this award for the series and that's Scott Kazmir, who seems to be progressing nicely and couldn't have gotten off to a better start to the second half. Kazmir had his best outing of 2013 on Wednesday: he pitched 8 superb innings, a season high, giving up just 1 hit and no earned runs (Seattle's sole run they did score was off that Cabrera error I mentioned earlier). He walked 2 and struck out 7 Mariners in 103 pitches. It was a virtuoso performance from the left-handed veteran, a display to get really excited about. Kazmir wins the award for this series with ease, but an honourable mention most go to Yan Gomes, who has become Kazmir's personal catcher of late, who had a very successful trip to Seattle as well.

Cleveland can enjoy the day off at home today before welcoming the Texas Rangers to Progressive Field for a three game series beginning tomorrow. Corey Kluber (7-5, 3.69 ERA) will face off against Martin Perez (3-3, 3.40 ERA) on Friday evening to get things started but the game to watch will be Saturday's match-up of All Star pitchers Justin Masterson (11-7, 3.60 ERA) and Yu Darvish (9-4, 2.86 ERA). I start my holiday on Monday so I'll try and fit in a series re-cap before I go but if not I won't be back until we're midway through the crucial series against the Tigers in early August. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

First Half Season Review: Pitchers

Yesterday I rounded off my review of the Indians' position players for the first half, you can find that here (or just scroll down you bums). Today the focus is on our pitchers, who've had a mixed season but overall I'd say they've been alright. Especially when you consider that many predicted the rotation to be a complete train-wreck this year. Without further ado:

Rotation

Justin Masterson A-

First time All Star Justin has rediscovered some of the magic he had in 2011 and has been the undisputed leader on the Tribe rotation. The biggest surprise has been his ability to get strikeouts, with 137 K's in 135.1 innings, good enough for 6th overall in the entire league, 4th in the AL. Not bad for a groundball pitcher huh? He's run into a bit of trouble lately, especially with his control (54 walks, 4th highest in the league), but he continues to pitch well every 5 days and has become the most reliable pitcher on the staff. Hopefully he can remain this good in the second half, maybe even get close to 20 wins. That would be fantastic.

Room for Improvement: Limit the walks.

Corey Kluber B+

A revelation this year and continuing to get better as the season progresses. Kluber has cemented himself as a solid number 2 behind Masterson since Zach McAllister got hurt in June. He has flourished with the added responsibility. Brilliant so far.

Room for Improvement: Keep doing what you're doing,

Zach McAllister B+

Zach started the year wonderfully before a finger injury at the beginning of June halted his progress. Showed enough of his supreme talent in his 11 starts though and can hopefully return to that level of effectiveness when he comes off the DL later this month. His introduction back into the rotation could be like a new signing and could just be what the rotation needs for the playoff-push in the second half.

Room for Improvement: Get healthy and pitch exactly the same as you did before.

Ubaldo Jimenez C-

Just when everyone had given up on him, Ubaldo somehow managed to sort himself out. We have finally begun to see flashes of the player we thought we were acquiring in the 2011 trade. It's not been all roses though. Jimenez's pitch counts are astronomical, hitters are nearly always pushing him to 3-2, and as a result he barely makes it past the 5th inning anymore. Some of that is luck and some of it is down to the defense, but Ubaldo has to find a way to pitch deeper into games if he is to have a future in Cleveland after 2013. At the moment, most people don't imagine him as part of the 2014 rotation. He has to prove them wrong in the second half.

Room for Improvement: Get at least 6 innings in the majority of your starts. Must pitch longer.

Scott Kazmir B-

We should all be celebrating the fact Kazmir even made it out of Spring Training, let alone to the half way point of the season. He's not the star he was in Tampa Bay anymore but we realise that, so expectations were low to begin with. Still, Scott has been a solid back-of-the-rotation starter, eating innings and has become one of the feel-good stories of 2013. A pleasant surprise all in all.

Room for Improvement: Keep contributing like you have. Limit the hits.

Trevor Bauer D

In the handful of spot-starts Bauer made in the first half, he's shown he's still not quite MLB-ready. Not yet anyway. Trevor is still struggling with his control, walking 16 batters in just 17 major league innings. The problem is, he's hardly setting AAA alight either. His numbers in Columbus aren't exactly mouth-watering, a 4.06 ERA in 14 starts, 76 hits and 9 HRs in 77.2 innings. I think Bauer could benefit from spending the majority of the second half in Columbus, and only join the big club in September. The elite talent is still obvious, he has possibly the best stuff on the roster, but a bit more seasoning at the AAA level is necessary to harness that potential.

Room for Improvement: Work on that control, have to limit those walks. Be patient, your chance will come.

Carlos Carrasco F

Carrasco's 6 starts with the big club can be considered a train-wreck by all accounts. He only pitched 1 quality start, against the Royals on June 17th, when he pitched 7.1 innings of 1 run ball and deserved a victory his team-mates couldn't provide. Aside from that single game he's been hideous. 47 hits and 29 earned runs in just 28.2 innings leaves him with a sky-high 9.10 ERA at the All Star break. The centre-piece of the 2009 Cliff Lee trade has failed to rebound successfully from the Tommy John surgery that kept him sidelined in 2012. It's not all doom and gloom for Carrasco though; he's been lighting up Columbus, with 60 strikeouts in 54.2 innings, with an impressive 3.29 ERA. He just hasn't put it all together at the major league level yet. There's still time, but he has to prove it to the big club, and the fans, sooner rather than later.

Room for Improvement: Transfer dominance from AAA level to major leagues. Avoid controversy.

Bullpen

Chris Perez D+

What a roller-coaster of a season so far for Perez, but he's actually been very good since his return from the disabled list. With expectations at an all time low, Perez seems to be pitching better than ever before, with 4 relatively incident-free saves within a period of 5 days in the run-in to the All Star break. He now needs to carry this consistency into the second half and become the closer he was in 2011 and 2012.

Room for Improvement: Keep your mouth shut and pitch. Stay healthy.

Vinnie Pestano D

Oh Vinnie, what happened man? Pestano has not been the same pitcher we've been accustomed to seeing so far in 2013. He's been struggling, the life in his fastball just doesn't seem right, and it's led to questions about his health and/or mental approach. Whatever the problem is, Vinnie needs to take these few days of rest to re-focus and fix himself. If its a physical problem, hopefully the club can give him the time he needs to recuperate. Pestano at 100% takes our bullpen to another level.

Room for Improvement: Fix what's ailing you and return to the Pestano we all know and love.

Joe Smith C

Normally one of our best bullpen guys but even Smith has struggled at times this year, especially lately (could be to due to being over-worked). Like Pestano, Joe needs to re-energise himself during the break and prepare himself for the second half. We're gonna need him at full health for the run-in.

Room for Improvement: Embrace the responsibility of carrying the load when the rest of the bullpen is failing.

Cody Allen B+

Arguably the lone bright spot in this year's bullpen, Cody Allen has established himself as a very good relief pitcher, maybe even a future closer (his strikeout rate of 11.80 K/9 is astounding). I've been extremely impressed with his composure and ability to handle the high-pressure situations that Francona throws him into. Excellent so far.

Room for Improvement: Keep it up.

Matt Albers C

Albers has been better than I thought he would be during the first half but like so many others he needs to cut down his walks if he wants to be an effective reliever in this bullpen. To his credit he has given up the least amount of home runs (2) amongst the bullpen staff with 10+ appearances.

Room for Improvement: Work on your control.

Bryan Shaw C

Shaw gets a bad rap from some fans but he's largely been effective in his 39 appearances thus far. Nothing spectacular but he's got the job done. I'd prefer if Francona left him out of some of the more volatile situations though. Shaw should strictly be used in emergencies during tight games, as I'd prefer to see Allen or Smith.

Room for Improvement: Limit the walks and hits.

Rich Hill D-

After starting the season so well, Hill has been a disaster ever since, with a lot of fans expecting the news of his release weeks ago. Rich is still capable of getting outs and there's been signs of him turning things around lately, but the fan's confidence in him is still pretty low. I'm a big fan of that sweeping curve ball though, the way it leaves hitters completely frozen at the plate. Hill needs to pitch better in the second half, like he did to end the first, or he won't last the year in Cleveland.

Room for Improvement: Cannot afford to keep walking the first batter you face or your days are numbered.

Nick Hagadone D

The once-promising left hander has had his fair share of troubles like the rest of the bullpen and needs to make the most of his next opportunity with the big club when his name is called again. Like Hill he needs to work on his control and limit the walks, or the Tribe will look elsewhere for left handed relief.

Room for Improvement: Cut down those walks and be prepared next time you make it to the bigs.

Not applicable for grading: Brett Myers, Scott Barnes, Matt Langwell, Joe Martinez, Danny Salazar, David Huff, Preston Guilmet, CC Lee

Myers was one of the off-season signings acquired to help shore up the rotation but injury has ruled him out of having any effect on the Indians in the first half. Danny Salazar is the highlight of this bunch, his impressive debut last week causing a quite a stir.

So there you have it, my review of each player as the first half has come to an end. The second half will reveal whether the Indians pitching staff are pretenders, like the previous 2 years, or contenders; can the Tribe actually make a real push for a playoff spot? Our hopes will lie largely with the rotation and the bullpen, and their collective performances will determine just how far these 2013 Indians will go.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the All Star Game tonight.

Tribe Enter Break In Royal Fashion

What a fantastic way to cap off the first half of the season, sweeping the Royals in three games as the All Star Game draws near this Tuesday. The Indians have been in fine form of late and had everything working for them in this series, shutting out KC 3-0 on Friday, beating them 5-3 on Saturday, before sweeping them with a fine 6-4 victory today, Sunday. This afternoon's win leaves the Indians with a 51-44 record, remarkable given how streaky the team have been at times, and the club are just 1.5 games behind the Tigers in the race for AL Central. As Wayne Campbell so nicely put it: Game on!

Kluber Continues To Impress

Corey Kluber is having a hell of a season for the Indians in 2013. His first half numbers don't initially dazzle the eye, and that's partly due to him feeling his way into the season, but for a guy who wasn't even supposed to be part of this club's rotation this year,he ain't doing too badly if I say so myself. At the break he has a 3.88 ERA, with 94 strikeouts in 95 innings and just 22 walks. Kluber appears to be getting better every time he takes the mound and his latest outing ranks amongst his best so far.

Kluber kicked off the series against Kansas City on Friday with a dominating pitching performance. He lasted 7 2/3 innings, surrendering only 3 hits and 3 walks, to go along with 8 strikeouts, whilst all the while keeping the Royals off the scoreboard. He was damn near untouchable, like he has been so often since the start of June. With Zach McAllister missing from the rotation due to injury, Kluber has picked up the torch and has cemented himself as the number 2 starter in McAllister's absence. If he can continue to pitch like this in the second half of the season, and McAllister can return to full health and be effective like he was before he got hurt, our rotation will immediately look a lot better. In fact, it would be so much better that I'm almost willing to admit that the Indians wouldn't need to trade for a new starter before July's deadline ends. A rotation led by Masterson, McAllister and Kluber inspires a lot of confidence in me, and if all three guys can continue to pitch into September like they have done so far, well I reckon the team can only prosper.

Player Of The Series

There are a number of worthy candidates for the award this series, Kluber amongst them for the reasons I have just mentioned. But my pick for this series goes to our young third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall, for his efforts at the plate and in the field over the last couple of days. Lonnie smashed the first grand slam of his MLB career on Saturday, his 4 RBI bomb fuelling the Tribe to the 5-3 win. His grand slam ultimately proved to be the difference, supporting Scott Kazmir's sterling effort on the mound (6 1/3 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts for his 5th win of the season). Not only was Lonnie impressive at the plate against KC, he was also confident and impressive with the glove, making all the routine plays at third, showing none of the nerves he displayed earlier on in the year. Chiz made a superb catch during today's game, catching a towering pop-up over the camera-man's railing by the third base dugout, pulling it off with ease. It's just so refreshing to see him playing with this level of confidence, looking like he finally belongs on a major league field. He's really starting to progress nicely now and just needs to maintain this level throughout the second half of the season. Keep it up Lonnie and congrats.

So now we can all look forward to seeing Masterson and Kipnis in New York on Tuesday at the All Star Game. I hope both guys manage to get into the game for a bit, and I'll be making the effort to stay up late here in the UK to watch the game. Keep your eyes peeled here to the blog over the next couple of days, I'll have a first half season review coming up shortly. Until then...

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Slip Behind, Lose Ground To Tigers

The Indians could only manage one win against our division rivals Detroit in this recent four-game series, losing yet more ground in the race for the AL Central. Cleveland have now lost five of their last six games and trail the Tigers by 3.5 games. Not an insurmountable lead of course, but this was still an important series the Indians needed to at least split to show they belong in the race, that they stand a legitimate chance at competing with Detroit. Obviously there is still some work to be done if we're to go head-to-head with the Tigers, who are one of the best teams in baseball (and I hate saying that).

We Live And Die On Pitching

Whether it be our starters or our bullpen, the Indians can only go as far as their pitchers take them. And lately they haven't taken them very far.

Let's begin with the bullpen, who have been our Achilles' heel all season long. A unit that were so strong, often dominate, in 2012 have fallen apart so quickly in 2013. Nothing highlighted this quite like Sunday's game. After another fantastic Corey Kluber outing (6 1/3 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and 10 strikeouts), the Indians carried a 6-1 lead into the 7th inning. You'd figure a healthy 5 run lead would be enough, even for our bullpen? You would be wrong of course, nothing about this bullpen's lack of ability to get outs should surprise any of us anymore. Joe Smith came in, one of our best guys on his day, but he's been shaky lately and was again on Sunday, letting Kluber's runner score as well as one of his own. The lead was cut to 6-3 as Vinnie Pestano entered the game to start the 8th inning. Pestano proceeded to give up 4 hits and a walk, capping it off with a Torii Hunter 3-run homer to tie the game 6-6. Poor Vinnie hasn't looked right all year and you have to start questioning is it a mental thing, or is something physically wrong? Whatever the problem, Pestano needs to be kept out of tight situations until he's been fixed because he was terrible on Sunday and nearly cost the Tribe the game. Thank goodness for Michael Brantley, who saved our bullpen's ass with his heroics (more on this later) to win the game 9-6 for the Indians, their solo victory of the series.

But what about our starters? They've been better than a lot of us predicted but they aren't making life any easier for the bullpen this season. If every starter not named Justin Masterson could last a bit longer in games, we'd surely be performing much better and the bullpen probably wouldn't be suffering quite so much. Even Masterson had a stinker this series, having his shortest outing so far in 2013 as the Tigers got to him quickly Friday night in the 7-0 loss. But I feel we need to see a bit more from our starters on a regular basis. I'm not pointing fingers at Kluber, he's been great and has pitched past the 6th inning in a lot of his starts lately. However guys like Ubaldo and Kazmir, who honestly have done alright this year, they need to last a little longer if our bullpen is going to stand any chance. Kazmir pitched well again last night but couldn't make it through 6 innings, leaving it up to our tired bullpen to carry the Tribe to the finish (credit to them as well, they pitched pretty well last night, despite losing 4-2) Then we get into the Carrasco and Bauer situations and that's a completely different mystery, we never know how long those guys will last into games (not very long more often than not). So given what has transpired recently, the rotation could use some serious help and I'd like to see the front office make a move this month to remedy this. Go out and get one of those starting pitchers, because this group needs more stability if we're going to remain competitive in the second half of the season.

Congrats To The All Stars

It's not all doom and gloom here at England Tribe, as I thought I'd quickly mention Justin Masterson and Jason Kipnis were both announced as All Stars on Saturday. It's fantastic news and great to see both players recognised for their strong starts to the season. Both guys are first time All Stars as well, so they must be ridiculously excited for the trip to New York next week. I'm really glad Kipnis made it onto the team, it was going to be pretty close whether he made the cut or not. Masterson has easily been the best pitcher on the team in 2013 and he deserves his spot amongst the AL pitchers. I just hope both players manage to find themselves involved in the game and not get left on the bench. I'm looking forward to watching both guys represent the Tribe and I expect I'll be making a special effort to stay up that night to watch the game (it won't start until after midnight here in the UK).

Player Of The Series

Despite a pretty miserable series, there's only one winner for me and that's Michael Brantley. He carried the Indians on his back this series and put in an amazing performance on Sunday. Batting in the number 5 slot, Brantley smashed 2 home runs as well as a double for a total of 5 RBI. It was his second home run of the day that proved to be the difference. Brantley destroyed the ball for a 2-run bomb that put the Tribe back in the lead after the bullpen had allowed the Tigers to tie the game in the previous half-inning. Honourable mentions to Kluber and Lonnie Chisenhall, whose bat has come alive of late as he's hit a bit of form since his return from AAA. But Brantley's memorable Sunday earns him the award for this series, congrats Mike.

The Indians welcome Toronto to Cleveland today, to begin a three-game series. It'll be the Jays' big winter acquisition Josh Johnson (1-3, 4.89 ERA) up against Ubaldo Jimenez (6-4, 4.67 ERA). We need to start this series off better than we did against Detroit so I'd like to see Ubaldo last longer than the 5th inning tonight. Until next time...

Thanks for reading.

Indians Earn Split in Baltimore

A series split? I'll take that. Before this series in Baltimore, I was a bit worried that the Orioles would destroy us, like they have with so many other teams this year. We've had a rough time of it against those boys from the AL East, the most stacked division in the league (every team is over .500, now the Jays have had a resurgence). So to take away two wins is fantastic in my book. It's too bad the Indians couldn't get the win last night (they lost 7-3) to take the series outright, but you can't have everything your way I suppose.

We did get to see Scott Kazmir pitch a gem, taking a no-hitter into the 7th inning on Wednesday, before the Indians nearly threw it away and lost the game. Thankfully they rallied in the 9th with 2 RBI groundouts to win it 4-3 and save their blushes. Kazmir was electric, allowing just a single hit. It was a superb performance and very comforting to see him string together back-to-back good games.

Anyway, let's look at some of the talking points from the series:

The People Versus Nick Swisher

Okay, I had the idea to do a piece on Swisher earlier this week. Then two of my fellow bloggers beat me to the punch, TD at Waiting For Next Year and Tom at Red Right 88. Both are excellent articles and deserve your attention, but I felt I could still share my thoughts on the Swisher situation.

We all know that Swisher was the marquee signing during the off-season and was immediately made the face of the franchise, the image of the Indians' new beginning behind Terry Francona. All the homecoming stuff was great and you could see Nick's enthusiasm was genuine; he actually wanted to play here and his energy and excitement helped restore some faith in the organisation. The 32 year-old switch hitter had never been "the star" during his career in the major leagues but he came to Cleveland hailed as one.  Unfortunately, Swisher hasn't produced like a star on the field and has yet to find his offensive groove in 2013.

As I type this, Swisher is batting .229 for the season with 7 home runs and 25 RBI. His OBP is .330 and his OPS is .713 (pretty far behind his career average of .822). He's having a really rough month, batting just .125 in June with 5 RBI and no home runs. In fact, the last time he hit a home run was May 26 at Fenway Park. Yes, that's over a month ago. To say Swisher is struggling is an understatement and he obviously hasn't delivered on the expectations we had before the start of the season.

He's been hampered by injuries this year, most recently a problem in his shoulder which must be hindering his play on the field and at the plate. So I can cut him a bit of slack there, it can't be easy playing hurt every day. Still, it's alarming to see how the fans have turned on him. His love of Ohio and being a nice guy around the club is surely holding back some of the fan's venom, but how long will it last? How much more sub-par play will the Tribe faithful put up with before they really turn on him?

Personally, I find it difficult to boo my own players and shower them with intense criticism. It's not a British thing, we boo our guys just like they do in the States and all over the world. Maybe I'm just a glass half full kind of guy? So that being said, I'm not going to start hating on Swisher and I'm not going to jump on the "trade Swish bandwagon", not that that's a realistic option anyway. I drafted him on my fantasy team for pete's sake, I'm not going to give up on that investment just yet. And neither should Tribe fans (in real life, not fantasy. Do what you want in fantasy!). I have to believe that Swisher will turn things around in 2013. The Indians front-office are paying him a lot of money to do just that. If you thought the Indians were getting a powerful 30 HR+ 100 RBI+ first baseman in the winter, you were mistaken, he's not that player anymore and never has been (closest he got to those numbers was 2006). However, I can understand the fan's frustration because I know we all expected more than what we're getting. Nick Swisher of all people knows this and I'm pretty sure he's trying his damn best to correct it.

Player Of The Series

The complete opposite to Nick Swisher offensively at the moment? Why it's back-to-back Player of the Series winner Jason Kipnis of course. Kipnis has continued his blistering hot streak at the plate lately and torched Baltimore for 5 hits, one in each game to continue his 9 game hitting streak, 2 home runs and 4 RBI.

It's amazing how well Kipnis is playing at the moment, showing us his immense talent on a daily basis. He's hitting .398 in June, that's the best average in the league this month amongst players with over 80 at-bats (that's better than Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera). In his current form, Kipnis is outperforming both Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia in nearly every category. He has more RBI this month (Kipnis 19, Pedroia 17, Cano 10), more stolen bases (Kipnis 7, Pedroia 3, Cano 3), more home runs (Kipnis 3, Pedroia 2, Cano 2), more hits (Kipnis 33, Pedroia 26, Cano 18), and a far higher batting average (Kipnis .398, Pedroia .277, Cano .231). Is that not enough for people to realise that Kipnis deserves a spot at the All Star Game next month? I'll admit, overall he's probably not as good as Cano and Pedroia over a full season but right now, Kipnis is the best second baseman in the league. Make it happen people, lets make Kipnis an All Star.

Thanks for reading.

Tribe Too Much For Twins

Apologies for no series re-cap about the Royals last week. I was on holiday and despite watching the majority of the games, I felt my vacation earned me a bit of a break from the blog, so there you have it.

The Indians have remained in good form since returning home from what I like to call 'The Roadtrip From Hell Apart From When We Beat Texas'. They've been so good in fact they've won their last four series including that trip to Texas, dispatching the Nationals, Royals and now the Twins. It began with a 5-1 win on Friday, on the strength of a wonderfully pitched game by Scott Kazmir. The Tribe carried that winning form into Saturday, outlasting Minnesota 8-7, largely thanks to a 6 run first inning that helped propel Corey Kluber to his 6th win of the season. Unfortunately the Tribe couldn't capture the sweep on Sunday, losing 5-3, but at least they got another valuable series win.

Kazmir Answers His Critics (Me)

Since Scott Kazmir's last start against the Nationals, when he suffered heavily through 2 2/3 innings, the veteran left-hander rebounded in style on Friday against the Twins. Kazmir put any worries I had last week to rest, pitching 7 excellent innings against Minnesota, allowing 5 hits and only 1 run (a solo-homer to Brian Dozier). Kazmir didn't allow a single walk and struck out 7 Twins on his way to the win, his 4th of the season.

I couldn't have been more relieved to see Kazmir come back from that disastrous Nationals game. He was practically flawless against the Twins and it was so reassuring to see him under control once again and have his pitches working properly. Kazmir now sits at 4-4 with a 5.37 ERA, still a bit higher than he'd obviously like but at least it's heading in the right direction (down). His next scheduled start is in Baltimore on Wednesday June 26, where he has a favourable matchup against the Orioles' right-hander Jason Hammel. The O's have been a quality ball-club this season and they possess a dangerous lineup, including early AL MVP candidate Chris Davis, so there's plenty of potential stumbling blocks for Kazmir to encounter. But if he pitches anything like he did against the Twins on Friday, I have full confidence that he can get the job done in Baltimore, and we'll need him to be on top of his game in what'll undoubtedly be a difficult series.

Player Of The Series

There's no doubt who gets the award for this series: Step on down Jason Kipnis. Our star second baseman has been tearing it up lately and he maintained his hot streak against the Twins. Kipnis collected 3 RBI on Friday, 2 RBI on Saturday and 1 more on Sunday (maybe more check stats). He's really been making a late push to be an All Star this year and his recent form suggests he deserves it. I know it's practically impossible that Kipnis will beat out Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia for that second base slot but we can live in hope for now. I know I for one would love to see the JK Kid represent the Tribe in New York.

Cleveland now return to the road for a while, beginning with a four-game series at Camden Yards against the Orioles. It'll be a tough trip, as Baltimore strive to stay in touch with the giants of the AL East, but the Indians should have no reason to fear them and could even come away victorious if everything breaks just right for us. Until then...

Thanks for reading.

Indians Just Capital, Defeat Washington

I returned home this evening from watching the Man of Steel to catch the last couple of innings from today's 2-0 win over the Nationals, sealing the series win on Father's Day. An Indians victory for all the Dads out there, nothing better. Let's take a peak at how we fared in the series:

Pitching Good...

Justin Masterson went toe-to-toe with Washington's Gio Gonzalez in the first game of the series on Friday and came out victorious, although he didn't officially earn the win. Masterson pitched a very solid 7 innings, only getting into trouble once in the 3rd inning, when his control let him down and he allowed the Nationals' only run on a wild pitch. Besides that he was almost lights out, allowing just 2 hits and 1 run to go along with 10 strikeouts, the most he's gotten since his 11 strikeout game against Seattle on May 19th. Unfortunately Justin wasn't eligible for the win, exiting with the game tied, but the Indians emerged victorious eventually with a walk-off infield single by Jason Kipnis. With 1 out in the bottom of the 9th and Drew Stubbs at third, Kipnis got good contact and Stubbs was running for home the second the ball left the bat. Drew's speedy legs carried him home to beat Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche's throw to score the winning run, carrying the Indians to a 2-1 win to kick off the series.

Corey Kluber was sublime for the second start in a row this afternoon, pitching an absolute beauty in the Cleveland sunshine to earn his 5th win in 2013. Kluber went 8 innings again, this time allowing 7 hits to the Nats but he didn't walk anybody and got 8 strikeouts. More importantly, he didn't allow a single run, lowering his ERA to a very respectable 3.58 to go along with a 5-4 record. I'm almost lost for words to describe Kluber these days. He's become something of a revelation and has really carried the torch recently, especially since Zach McAllister went on the DL. Kluber was backed by Carlos Santana's 30th RBI of the season in the 4th inning and then got an extra run in the bottom of the 8th thanks to a sac-fly from Kipnis. Vinnie Pestano finished things off for his first save of the season to earn the Tribe the 2-0 victory and series win overall.

Pitching Bad...

I hate to be a negative Nancy after this successful series win but I feel this needs to be addressed, at the very least mentioned:

Is it time to start worrying about Scott Kazmir?

Kazmir hasn't been very good lately and hasn't pitched well this month at all. He hasn't had a win since May 30th, a 7 inning beauty against the Reds. But looking at his starts recently, that victory looks to be a bit of a blip on what's turned into a sub-par couple of months for Kazmir. Since that W against Cincinnati, Scott has given up 4+ runs in his last three starts and his game against the Nationals on Saturday was probably his worst of the season so far. Kazmir lasted only 2 2/3 innings, giving up 4 hits and 5 earned runs, walking 4 Nats and surrendering 3 home runs in that short space of time. Ghastly numbers, that leave him with a 3-4 record and a 5.89 ERA, not pretty to look at I know. In 55 innings he's allowed 68 hits, 12 for home runs, 23 walks and 55 strikeouts. I'm a bit worried about Scott, his inconsistency is causing me some concern. I hoped he would overcome his struggles adapting to life in the major leagues after his time away, getting progressively better as the season wore on but that hasn't happened yet. There's still time I know, and he's hardly been a disaster, but there's just something off with him that I can't put my finger on, only to point out the obvious and says he's not been very good. I've been a big fan of his comeback this season and want him to do well; Here's hoping he can.

Kazmir departed Saturday's game leaving the Indians to dig out of a 5-0 hole, which they duly did, taking a 6-5 lead into the 8th inning, before the heart of the bullpen took over. Ah yes, the bullpen...

Joe Smith entered the 8th inning and gave up a home run with 2 outs to make it a tie-game. The Nationals didn't stop there, hitting another home run, this time off Pestano in the 9th, and again with 2 outs, to take a 7-6 lead and eventually win the game. It was a demoralising loss, after battling back so impressively, only to throw away all that hard work. It hurt even more to see our best relief pitchers get crushed, wasting away what looked like a hard-fought win (and what could have earned the sweep). Looks like our bullpen problems haven't been fixed after all, although Pestano went some way towards making amends with his series-winning save today. Anyway, that's all the negativity for today, we still won overall and that should be celebrated.

Player Of The Series

Two in a row for Mr Corey Kluber! I didn't think he could pitch any better than he did against Texas on June 11th (8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) but he proved me wrong. Even without Bryce Harper the Nationals are still a force offensively, despite their other injuries as well. Kluber stifled the Washington lineup today, keeping them off the scoreboard and out-duelling their ace Stephen Strasburg (returned from the DL today, and lasted 5 innings). I'd argue that Kluber has elevated himself to become our number 2 starter in the wake of McAllister's injury and he deserves all the praises he gets. Congrats again Corey.

Cleveland remain at home to welcome the Royals tomorrow evening to begin a three game series against our division rivals. Kansas City have their big winter free-agent acquisition James Shields toeing the rubber tomorrow, who is quietly having a good season in KC despite his 2-6 record (he has a 2.79 ERA). The Indians send Carlos Carrasco (0-2, 15.26 ERA) to the mound, a man who hasn't gotten into any rhythm yet in 2013, due to his suspensions and demotions. He really needs a quality start to get his season under way and must put behind him all of his early season problems if he's to stand any chance at remaining with the club and not at AAA Columbus.

Thanks for reading.

That's More Like It; Indians Sweep Reds

The Indians bounced back from their miserable road-trip in Boston and Cincinnati, beating the Reds twice in  a row at home, snapping the 5 game losing streak they were in. There was even better news in the shape of Pittsburgh doing us a favour, beating the Tigers twice and allowing us to climb back to within a 0.5 game in the AL Central. Let's look at the positives from this mini two-game sweep against our Ohio foes:

Good Pitching = Wins

Both the starters in this series pitched fantastic games these past two days. Justin Masterson started things off on Wednesday, lasting 6 innings and giving up only 4 hits and 1 run, a solo homer by Joey Votto in the 1st inning. He settled into his groove after that mistake and struck out 7 Reds batters, his two-seam fastball breaking down and away from hitters beautifully. He did walk 4 batters but that was a minor blemish on an otherwise perfectly pitched game. Masterson picked up his 8th win of the season in the process, a quite amazing feat considering how hard he struggled last year to earn victories. He's on track to get a career high in wins if he can continue this pace. The bullpen came in after Masterson finished his 6 innings and were relatively incident free for once, Cody Allen and Joe Smith combining well to get the Tribe to the 9th. Vinnie Pestano, newly elected closer, came in and immediately gave up a lead-off homer to Xavier Paul which helped unsettle the Tribe faithful but he dug in and got through the rest of the inning unscathed. The Indians won 5-2 in the end and snapped out of their losing streak in the process. Masterson got his run support from Mark Reynolds and Jason Giambi, the heavy hitters both striking for home runs to fuel the Tribe offense. Reynolds hit his homer, his 13th of the year, in the 3rd inning to tie the game and Giambi smashed a 3 run bomb with 2 outs in the 6th inning for 3 RBI to put the game beyond the Reds.

Scott Kazmir went one better than Masterson last night, lasting 7 innings, surrendering 8 hits and only giving up 1 run. Kazmir also limited his walks, allowing just the 1, and struck out 5 Reds batters to earn his 3rd win of the season. It was a very impressively pitched game by Kazmir, a performance he was due after going through a bit of a rough patch lately in his comeback tour. He got all the run support he needed when the Tribe exploded in the 4th inning for 7 runs, chasing Reds starter Homer Bailey from the game. With 2 outs in the 4th, the Indians were relentless and kept lining hits into the corners to pad their lead. With such a commanding lead, the bullpen could relax when they relieved Kazmir in the 8th and Nick Hagadone and Matt Albers pitched a clean inning each to get the Tribe to the finish line for a 7-1 Indians win and the series sweep.

Player Of The Series

There are many deserving candidates for the award this series, with nearly everybody having a good game. But my award goes to Yan Gomes, who despite playing in just one of the two games, had a fantastic day at the plate yesterday. This award is as much for his great game yesterday as it is for his impressive performance so far in 2013 and I thought it was about time I recognised his greatness here at England Tribe. Gomes got 3 hits yesterday, leading the team, and an RBI as well, which leaves him with a .319 batting average with 5 home runs and 13 RBI in total so far. The 25 year-old Brazilian backstop is impressing every day he plays and has grown into the perfect back-up catcher when Santana needs a day off behind the plate. Keep it up Yan, and congrats!

So the Indians have broken out of their funk just in time, as they begin what is arguably the toughest stretch of the schedule this campaign. The Tribe welcome the resurgent Rays to Cleveland for a three-game series beginning today, before jetting off to New York, Detroit and Texas for a long and season-defining road-trip.

Thanks for reading.